Tailtales
by littlebixuit
Summary: When Shaggy meets someone in the middle of night, this someone seems to be special, somehow. Just how special, that's something he'd have never thought. Written mostly for my own humor and LoV, but enjoy anyway. R&R, if you feel up to it :P
1. Chapter 1

_Me: This is mainly written for LoveofVelma, he's gonna have a hard day today, but it's still for all of you._

_Invy: _**BlablaScooby not hersblablaWarner BrosblablaHanna Barberablablaapple pieblabladisclaimer. Bla.**

_Me: You noticed? Invy talks again :D_

_Apps: Enjoy!_

* * *

"Scoob, like, now?" Shaggy asked, indicating to the clock which showed the green glowing numbers 1 and 32. "It's in the middle of night!"

Scooby nodded, the most serious view a dog could make on his face.

Sighing, Shaggy stood up from where he had just sat down to change his clothes and go to bed. Something had clicked again and he had drawn late in the night, everyone else long gone to bed. When he finally decided to follow this sample, Scooby had opened towards him, that he had to pee and that right now. Not only that, he wanted to go to the park to do so. Why so, it could be tried to be explained here, but it would only be understandable for dogs. Being like he was, Shaggy couldn't say no and stepped out of his door, tip-toeing in an attempt not to wake the others. They crept down the stair and made their way to the front door, where Shaggy put on a jacket. Summer or not, it was still a bit cold outside at this time of the night.

Once in the park, Scooby began to run a bit faster, on a search for the perfect place to pee.

Shaggy knew that this could take a while, so he decided to sit down on the nearby swings. He made his way over the sandy ground and was surprised to see a person already sitting in one of the two swings. Approaching, he was even more surprised to see that this person was very little, a kid, probably. A woolen, green beanie was placed on the girls head, along with her untamed hair doing a perfect job of hiding her ears. Since she was sitting with her back to him and couldn't hear his steps, the noises they'd normally make swallowed by the sand, he decided to call out just as she turned her head sharply, staring at him with wide eyes. He smiled as she mustered him warily, her eyes taking in every detail.

Shaggy waited for her to finish, not wanting to get her shocked or something else. Finally, the wary look was taken back and replaced by a curious, though still alerted view. Without any words, Shaggy slowly stepped closer before sitting down on the swing beside the girl.

"Like, what are you doing here all alone?" he began a conversation, hoping he hadn't gone too far with asking this.

"I could ask you the same. And I'm not alone." the girl said, holding up a small, black bundle that had been unable to see while lying in her lap. The slight 'Meow' coming from the bundle made pretty clear what it was.

Shaggy smiled. "Me neither. My dog's running around here somewhere."

"Dog?" the girl looked around, seeming slightly panicked. It took Shaggy a moment to get that she was probably afraid of Scooby chasing and barking at the cat if he would come over to them.

"No reason to worry, Scooby's a total cat-friend."

"Oh. Okay." she let her hands fall back to her lap, stroking the cat which purred slightly.

"Yours?" Shaggy asked, talking about the purring cat lying in the girls lap. She tilted her head, seemingly thinking about what to answer, before she gave slight nod and continued to stroke the cat.

Shaggy thought. He didn't want to offend the girl, but it seemed just strange to him, a girl like her, maybe 14 years old, sitting on a swing at a time like this.

"Um... don't your parents worry about you?"

"As if they'd care." she mumbled a quiet answer, making it very hard for Shaggy to understand her words. It surprised him, but he had no time to ask any further, as he heard someone calling him.

"Raggy! Raggy!" Scooby slithered to a halt just before him, his tongue hanging out of his mouth and a very satisfied look on his face. He sniffled and took the scent of the girl and the cat on her lap, curiously walking towards her and sniffing at the pair a bit closer. The girl seemed frightened, but relaxed, and for a very, very little moment, Shaggy would have sworn that he saw her sniffing Scooby, too. But that just had to be his imagination. Seeing that he was indeed a very friendly dog, she stretched out a hand and scratched him behind his ear, a slight smile creeping on her lips when Scooby looked very relaxed.

Shaggy stood up, stretching and yawning, he really had to get in his bed.

"Come one Scoob, I'm getting really sleepy now." He turned to the girl. "It was nice meeting you... sorry, I think we haven't changed names yet."

"Lila. You?"

"Shaggy. Okay, it's a nickname, but nobody calls me by my real name."

"Bye, Shaggy. It really was nice meeting you." she said honestly.

"Bye." he smiled one last time, before turning around, walking off with Scooby. He should've probably said that she should really go home or something, but it felt strange telling it to a girl who seemed to be so... mature.

"R'ange r'mell." Scooby crossed his line of thoughts.

"Strange smell? Who? Lila?"

"Reah."

"Why?"

"Rhe r'melled... rike ra r'at."

"She had a cat sitting on her lap, it's normal for her to smell like it."

But Scooby shook his head, of course the cat had added to the smell, but there had been something cat-like in the girls own smell...

------------- Meow -----------------

Fate goes funny ways, they say.

Well, at least it was was Shaggy thought when a sense of déjà vu hit him upon seeing a girl sitting on a swing, moonlight hitting her from behind, her face hidden in the shadows. It wasn't as late as it had been the night when they first met, but still pretty late. She had her hair opened and her beanie in place just like the other night.

He saw the girl stiffening slightly as he approached her, but she either knew it was him or it was indifferent for her, since she made no attempt to look at the newcomer.

Shaggy sat down and looked over at her just in time to see Lila wiping away a lonely tear from the corner of her eye.

"What's wrong?" he asked softly, careful not to sound too worried. Lila shook her head as an answer.

"Is it about your cat?"

Head-shaking.

"Another animal?"

Nope.

"An alien?"

Lila was just about to shake her head again, obviously ready to give a negative answer to everything before even thinking about it, but then stopped, looking over at him to shot him a small smile, showing that she appreciated his tries to lighten up her mood, but didn't really wanted them. She didn't thought about turning her face to him, taking it out of the shadows it had been hiding itself in. It took her some seconds to get, why his view got more worried as he saw at her face, the large bruise over her cheek lying revealed in the moonlight. Quickly, she looked away.

"What was that? Did you got beaten?" he asked, not able to keep the worry out of his voice anymore.

Lila sighed, her shoulders moving up and down with the noise as she thought about wether tell him or not. Well, he found out a part by himself. She couldn't hide that from him now.

Nodding, she gave a positive answer to his question, she didn't felt like talking.

"By who?" he asked, trying to get further step by step.

Here Lila shook her head again.

"Then... why?" Lila looked up. Something crossed her face. Something looking like great anger. And it snapped.

"WHY? WHY?! There you are, some stranger the only thing I know of his nickname and you're the person to worry about why I got beaten? If it's so interesting, then here you have your damn reason. I'm different, okay?! DIFFERENT! I'm nothing like you or people you know and just because I'm not like any other, not NORMAL, I got beaten, fine?!" she yelled at him, emotions rushing through her whole body like water down a waterfall.

She had expected everything from him, to slap her, to yell at her, but not this, not this face that wasn't upset in any way, not this still worried face. Taken aback, but also feeling the sudden urge to run, she turned around and did as her head told her. She took off into the parts of the park which were overgrown, running with a speed Shaggy thought about as very rare - the speed he and Scooby could get to while being chased by a monster.

With a sigh, his head hung down, that was definitely not what he had been up to. He should come back with Scooby for a night walk soon. As soon as possible.

------------- Meow -----------------

As soon as possible, ASAP for short, turned out to be two weeks later.

His heart already hurt by just looking at her, her small frame shaking with sobs as he slowly approached from behind. He noticed the bag on the sandy ground sitting besides her as he sat down on the other swing.

"Lila?"

"Go away. Really, it's better for all of us."

"I don't think so. What happened?"

"He threw me out."

Shaggy nearly fell off the swing. It made sense, Lila sitting here sobbing, the bag besides her, she looked a bit homeless like this. "W-Why?"

"He can't stand me. My... speciality. Told me, we'd make a surgery about it. You wouldn't have agreed if you were in my place."

"Speciality? Honestly, Lila. Everybody is special, if I look at me and my friends, I often wonder how we even got to be friends, we're just so different. In which way are you... special?"

"You are not like your friends, but still you're friends with them? That are things you think of? I'd be glad to have just one friend, different or not! The differences you're talking about, they're nothing like mine. Your differences aren't something your own father would want to get away from, would want to destroy. Nothing he'd take a credit to get it away."

"Lila, for god's sake! Like, I won't ever be able to truly understand the topic if you don't explain yourself a little bit farther."

"Okay, if you're so eager to write me off as freak and leave to never come back, fine. I'm PERFECTLY FINE with it. Just because you're one of the few who've ever been nice to me in my whole life, that doesn't mean ANYTHING. You want to know why I'm different? How I'm different? FINE!"

She stood up, still shaking with sobs and Shaggy could see the tears leaving streaks over her face. She raised both hands at once, the left hand ripping the beanie from her head while the right hand gripped at something at her back, something hidden under her pullover, and pulled it out. Shaggy had imagined many things, but that wasn't one of them.

Sitting on the girl's head, maybe one inch over the place most people had their ears, twitching with her whole body, were two cat-like, fluffy ears, black fur with red tips. Now not hidden from views anymore, a black tail hung from her behind, swinging around as if it was joyful not to be under the pullover anymore. Lila stood there, fists at her sites, her trembling view staring on the ground in front of his feet.

"Satisfied?"

Shaggy just sat there and looked. You can't judge him, everybody would be a bit dumbfounded at a sight like this.

"Yeah, stare at the cat-girl, after all, you're just like everyone else. You begin to hate me, you never want to have anything to do with me anymore, I know the routine now, I've gone through it quite some times. Go on, stand up, get your un-tailed behind out of here, leave me standing here, it's not like I need any help, I'm perfectly fine alone."

Shaggy stood up. A bit uneasy, he walked over to Lila and pulled her towards him softly, giving her enough space to escape, but still an embrace. She leaned her head against his chest, crying into it, one fist slightly battling against his chest.

"You're just... just... like everyone... You're not supposed to be..." then, she went limb in Shaggy's arms, letting him wonder just how much time had passed since she had gotten thrown out. He turned at a sound behind him, finding Scooby sitting there, a curious view on his face. He trotted over.

"Rold rou r'it r'wasn't just r'the rat's r'smell."

Shaggy smiled. "Hand me her beanie, would you?" he said, nodding towards the green piece lying on the ground, which must have fallen there somewhere in the last minutes. Carefully, he placed it on Lila's head, making sure her ears were hidden from views. He asked Scooby to get him Lila's bag and took it on his own shoulder. Lastly, he put her tail under her pullover. It was unlikely they'd come across anyone, but not impossible. Beginning to carry Lila towards Mystery Inc. he asked himself just what exactly he would do when he was home.

He should wake Velma at first...

* * *

_Me: Heh, I've got no idea how I should continue with this, so I probably won't. _

_Apps: Though, if someone asks just nicely enough and gives a good idea how to go on with this story, it could be possible that this story is going to have more than one chapter._

_Me: But it probably won't. Since Lila won't have a surgery, but I somehow don't want her to live with Mystery Inc., it doesn't looks that good._

_Invy: Yep, and that's about it. Bye, leave a review and all this stuff._

_littlebixuit_


	2. Chapter 2

_Me: First of all, thanks for the reviews. With 6 of 7 reviews asking me to make another chapter (and the other one was also telling me it was a good story) and 3 of these 6 giving me ideas for one, I thought it was compulsory for me to make another chapter. Then, special thanks to draco and Nicole, who were the ones giving me ideas. Nicole, thanks for the idea, but, though I like it, this would take more than one chapter and I didn't plan on making more than max. 2 for this story, since I have an awful lot of other opened and planned stories running through my whole head, so I can't take it. draco, your idea was really good, it sounded like just the right thing to do._

_Invy: Like always, we say thanx to those of you who actually read this stuff (okay, we don't always say it, but we mean it)._

_Apps: Disclaimer's mine! Muahaha. _**No one here, neither Invy nor Pia nor I own Scooby Doo. And technically, Invy and I would be never be able to own it, since we are only imaginatory figures in the writers head and don't really exist.**

_All of us: Have fun!_

_Me: You noticed we said something together for the first time ever?_

_Apps: Yeah... Oh my._

* * *

It had to be about one o'clock when Shaggy gently laid Lila on the couch, slightly chuckling about the similarity between the girl's name and the couch's color.

He took off the green beanie, Scooby had told him how uncomfortable it could be to have ears like Lila's or his' hidden under something like a cap. He watched her still, sleeping form for a little while before slowly creeping away and up the stairs, where each member had his or her own room. He knocked on Velma's door repeatedly, but decided to just walk in after he got no answer. He opened it and slowly approached her bed before gently shaking her shoulder.

"Velma. Velma! Velma?" he whispered in an attempt to not wake Daphne or Fred.

Finally, she groaned, then sat up fast as lightning and kicked into his direction, aiming for and hitting his shin. Shaggy managed to clamp his mouth shut a second before he cried out in pain, and just held his leg with his hands, hopping up and down while making a face at the pain. Velma had found her glasses in the meantime, her eyes had adjusted to them and she spotted Shaggy, immediately feeling sorry for kicking him.

"Shaggy? I'm sorry, are you alright?" she couldn't help but giggle when he let himself fall on the end of her bed and saw a slight expression of relaxation on his face.

"I've gotten quite some bad reactions from people I've woken in my life, but that about topped all of them." he answered, making her chuckle even more.

"I'm sorry. But may I ask why exactly you have woken me at a time like this?" she asked, indicating to the slightly glowing numbers on her nightstand clock.

"You have every right to ask. But believe me, it would be better if I'd just show you." he said, then hopped on the ground again and reached for her hand. With a raised brow, Velma took it and let him pull her up and towards the door.

Standing in front of the girl on the couch, the other brow joined the one that was already up. When Shaggy told her about what was special with Lila, she was sure that he had to be kidding. Well, that was until he showed her the girl's ears.

"And she really has a tail? I mean, the ears and the tail?"

"Yeah, but it's under her pullover now." Shaggy answered, his eyes locked on the red tips of Lila's ears.

"Okay... you know you have a talent at picking up the monstrous girls, don't you?"

"Hey, she's no monster!"

"I didn't mean it that way, just... she's different."

"You can say that again."

"But... how did you find her? Why did you brought her here...?"

At this point, Shaggy asked her to sit down on the unoccupied end of the couch, before he began to tell her the story of how they had met, how she had told him about her life and all the things that had been swapped in the talks they had had on the swings, surrounded by the shadows of the night. He had never been the best at telling stories, so Velma had to ask him a question at one or the other time, but after a while, she finally knew the whole story.

Though none of the both wanted to, there was a question coming up that couldn't be avoided any longer.

"What now?"

"I'm not sure. I just couldn't leave her alone just like this, you understand it, don't you?"

"Of course I do. You had to be cold-hearted to leave a girl like her just lying there and that is one thing you're thankfully the direct opposite of." Velma said, making Shaggy smile slightly "But the problem is that not everybody looks at this like you or me, most people wouldn't see that Lila's mostly a normal girl beside her ears and tail."

"I know... and she can't stay here."

"I'm afraid not."

"But she just can't live normally, not like this."

"Again, that option is out of question."

"R'I row ra r'ace." Scooby said, causing both Shaggy and Velma to jump in shock as they had thought the dog lying on the carpet was asleep. After getting over it, Scooby's human friends looked at him with interest lying on their faces.

"You do?"

"Reah. Rimwood." he answered as if it was the most logical thing on the world.

"Grimwood!" Shaggy and Velma said in unison as their faces lit up. They hadn't thought about the school for slightly different girls, but now, it really seemed so logical. Which other place was there on the world that wouldn't mind taking in a girl like Lila, because it was already filled with girls that weren't really normal?

It was that moment that Lila suddenly jerked in sleep and fell off the couch, making a slight 'Oof'. It didn't took her to long to realize that she was somewhere she had never been before and she jumped on her feet, green glowing eyes surrounding the room as fast as possible and finally locking on Shaggy and Velma, who looked at her in anticipation and slight surprise. Her left ear twitched in jumpiness and she looked towards Shaggy for an explanation.

"I hope you don't mind... you fell asleep in my arms and I couldn't let you lie there. This is Velma, a friend of mine." Shaggy said.

"You have some nerves... carrying me through town is one thing, but showing me to some friend?"

"Not some friend, a very good one at that. And Velma..."

"..has exact the same opinion about you as Shaggy does. You're special, but no monster or anything. Sorry, it must have startled you to wake up, be somewhere you don't know and see someone you don't know. My apologies." Velma continued for Shaggy.

Lila lay her head slightly askew and smiled. She had taken an immediate liking towards Velma.

"Um... so, Velma and I were thinking about what to do now and then, Scooby brought up this idea..." Shaggy started, then proceeded with telling Lila about Grimwood and it's speciality.

"But you said I am no monster. And, after hearing this telling, Grimwood seems to be a place with only monsters to it."

"Monsters, yeah, maybe from the outside. But all the girls there are actually very nice, without their outside, they'd be just normal girls. They're just like you."

Lila smiled, that DID sound like a good option. "But how comes that you know about this school?"

Shaggy smiled "Believe me, it is a very long story to tell. If you're okay with going there, maybe I can tell you about it on the journey."

"Okay with going there? I'd love to! But are you really okay with driving me there? You've already done so much..."

"I wouldn't be satisfied if I wouldn't bring you there."

So it was settled that Shaggy would drive to Grimwood with Lila as soon as possible. Scooby decided to tag along and Velma wanted to come, too. They waited till morning, informed Fred and Daphne about everything and then started their journey. Lila had been surprised at how there were another two friends of Shaggy who didn't mind her speciality and didn't even seem too surprised. Daphne had actually told her that she thought Lila's ears looked kind of cute.

(_A/N: I'm connecting this to Gothicthundra's story 'Scooby Doo Returns to Grimwood Place', so Velma, Fred and Daphne all know about Grimwood and have been there. I hope you don't mind, Gothicthundra =D.)_

It was Winnie who noticed the approaching van at first. She got up from the place in the grass she had been lying and turned her attention towards the road, immediately recognizing the brightly colored van and the persons getting out of it. She jumped to all fours and ran over to them, greeting Scooby at first by hugging his neck.

"Scooby, Shaggy, Velma! Long time no see!" her werewolf nose took in all the familiar scents, but then it stumbled about a new one. She turned around to see a girl with cat-like ears and a tail peeking out of her trousers standing there, studying the werewolf girl with biggest interest. Winnie went a bit closer to sniff at the girl, who wasn't shocked the slightest, but sniffed at Winnie in turn. It didn't took them long to see the other as friendly and they smiled at each other. Winnie noticed that the girls teeth were slightly sharper than normal.

"Winnie, I suppose." the werewolf nodded. "I'm Lila." she extended a hand and Winnie gladly took it, shaking it up and down.

That was the point, Shaggy was finally fully sure, Grimwood was the right place for Lila.

* * *

_Me: I'm not sure if I'm just lazy or actually convinced that this is a good point to end the story._

_Invy: Well, you guys should be glad to have more, since it was actually planned to be a oneshot. But that's definitely it now._

_Me: Nothing more._

_Apps: So... leave a review, please._

_Me: Bye! =D_

_littlebixuit_


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